


I'd Go Anywhere You Want

by nhum



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - World of Darkness (games) Fusion, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Discussion of Death, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Body Horror, Monsters, Permanant Death AU, mental link - shared pain, self-confidence issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:54:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22589731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nhum/pseuds/nhum
Summary: Cub had called, had said that he found something, so Scar had come running. Whatever it was, Scar was sure it was dangerous. That it would be exciting and alluring, but would also carry the potential to kill them again.
Relationships: Cubfan135/GoodTimesWithScar
Comments: 11
Kudos: 74





	I'd Go Anywhere You Want

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from Mercury by Sleeping at Last.
> 
> This is my first time writing fanfiction! If I've tagged something incorrectly, please tell me as I'm very new to this. This is part of a larger AU that I have in mind, and there will hopefully be other pieces in this same AU if this fic is well received. I originally posted this on a discord I'm in, so if you feel like you've read this before, that's why!
> 
> This doesn't do a great job of following the rules for World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness. I've mostly just grabbed the setting and concepts and declared 'my city now'. And then threw in Minecraft mechanics, for good measure. If you've got any questions, I'm happy to answer them!

Scar landed gracefully in the graveyard, transparent blue wings melting off of his back and into his body as his feet touched the ground. Cub had called, had said that he _found_ something, so Scar had come running. Whatever it was, Scar was sure it was dangerous. That it would be exciting and alluring, but would also carry the potential to kill them again.

He came because it was better than letting Cub go alone. Cub could handle himself, of course. There was no doubt in Scar’s mind that the other Sin-Eater could take care of himself. It was just so rare, these days, that Cub asked for Scar’s help. Ever since they had fled their old home, ever since the Convex became Con Corp, it felt like he was seeing his best friend less and less. 

“Scar!” Cub stepped out of the shadows to greet him, a warm smile on his face. “You came!”

Scar winced at that. Maybe Cub wasn’t the only one to blame for the way it felt like they were drifting apart. He knew he should talk about the guilt that he carried around like a weight, but it was easier to just pretend that everything was fine.

“Of course I came!” He replied, “You called!”

He couldn’t tell Cub that he hadn’t had a choice; the Vex had wanted to go, and at best that meant he could put it off until he went to sleep. It was always easier to just go along with the laughing voice in his head, to give in to the demands of the thing that was keeping both him and his best friend alive. And right now, it was also easier to pretend that he had wanted to come; that he wasn’t terrified of whatever Cub had found.

Cub nodded at that, and Scar couldn’t help but wonder if the other man knew that he was afraid. If, somehow, Cub knew that he came because he had to instead of because he wanted to. How much had the Vex told him? How much had he figured out himself?

“So what have you found, Cub?” It was easier to change the subject, he decided. “Something good?”

Cub raised his eyebrows at that, looking around the long-forgotten graveyard they were both standing in. “If by good, you mean interesting.” He said after a moment. “Come on, it’s over here.”

Cub led them deeper into the graveyard, away from the fading light of the streetlamps and the dying light of the setting sun. Their eyes lit up in the darkness, glowing a faint blue as they stepped through a mausoleum door that looked like it had been blown from its hinges. Scar didn’t know if Cub had done that, or how he would’ve without being noticed, but it wasn’t time to ask. He felt his attention shift as soon as he walked into the crumbling, desolate building, the Vex instantly drawn to the half phantasmal structure at the back.

It was the only thing in the building that looked put together; shining black obsidian with unknown runes carved into it. He approached without thinking, putting a hand on the empty frame. It was a Gate, he knew that from looking at it. The Vex didn’t communicate with a voice, or at least not to him. He was pretty sure they talked to Cub sometimes; he knew they talked through him sometimes. But for Scar, there was just laughter. And with that laughter, at least in this case, knowledge. This was a Gate to the underworld, and the Vex wanted both of them to open it. To follow it down into the dark, and get the gift that was waiting for them in the depths.

He swallowed his fear and turned to look at his friend. “Do you know how to open it?” He asked in a voice that seemed too loud in the oppressive silence of the tomb.

Cub shook his head, an action Scar could only see thanks to the way they both glowed with Vex magic in the darkness; the scars of their deaths illuminated in bright, eye-searing blue. “Haven’t tried anything yet.” He said, eyes never leaving the Gate. “I...didn’t want to go alone.”

Scar could hear the fear in Cub’s voice, and it made him pause. He didn’t think of Cub as scared of much of anything. He also couldn’t imagine Cub calling _him_ because he was scared. Scar wasn’t a great fighter, most of what he knew how to do with their shared magic was defensive. Cub was the one that could do anything, and the idea of him being afraid didn’t help Scar’s nerves at all.

Instead of voicing his concerns, he smiled at his friend. He could feel their magic inside him, rushing toward his fingertips as they rested on the stone. It hurt, as the power was ripped from him, and the echoing laughter of the Vex as he was drained didn’t help. Cub winced, an echo of Scar’s pain traveling through the bond they shared, and more guilt piled on.

The runes carved into the rock lit up, glowing in the familiar blue of Vex Magic, and Scar sunk to his knees. He had been using his magic all week, sucked into a big project that demanded far too much from him, and he simply didn’t have the reserves to spare. The Vex knew this, and their laughter only grew louder as Cub hurried over to his side.

“Are you alright?” Cub asked. Scar could already feel the cool relief of Cub’s magic flowing into him, replacing the stuff that was stolen from him. It was enough to get him back on his feet, though Cub insisted on being there to lean on.

“I’m okay, Cub. It was just a lot, and they didn’t warn me first.” _They never do_ , he wanted to add, but he didn’t know if that was universal. He didn’t know if the Vex were as heartless to Cub, and didn’t want to know if it was true. He didn’t know if he could live with himself if it was.

Cub had _died because of him_. Cub was only stuck with the Vex because they were the only ones willing to negotiate, the only ones that had been willing to bring them both back to life. And that had only been a disadvantage for Cub. The other Sin-Eater was burdened with all of Scar’s weakness, all of his pain, and Scar couldn’t help but wonder if he resented it at all. Cub acted like he didn’t, like it was fine, but so did Scar. They joked around, played pranks, and didn’t talk about that time they both died. 

Cub looked like he wanted to say something else, but shook his head and refocused his attention on the portal. “Are you sure you want to come? I’ll be alright by myself.” He asked, voice soft and concerned.

Scar forced his eyes to the portal he had lit. He _didn’t_ want to go through the portal that looked like it was dripping black ink. The ground it touched was greedily soaking up the excess magic, darkening with power, and he wanted to check and make sure that they weren’t destroying something bigger than themselves. He wanted to check the ley lines, wanted to make sure they weren’t poisoning the local magic supply. They didn’t live here, were only visiting the human city for the purpose of borrowing a graveyard, but destroying magic always had consequences. It would be an out, if he had wanted to take it.

He didn’t. There was no way in hell that he could let Cub face whatever was on the other side of that gate alone.

“There’s no way I’m letting you have all the fun. We go together, or not at all.” Scar replied. He grabbed Cub’s hand, so the other man couldn’t jump through the portal without dragging him along.

“You make a good point. We could both just not go at all. I’m sure nothing bad would come of us leaving this ominous open portal deep in a human city.” Cub agreed with a laugh.

“Oh no!” Scar said, barely suppressing a laugh. “What would they do? Banish us to some isolated, far off land?”

They had already done that to Doc. Scar and Cub, and the rest of the hermits, had followed. Being banished there would be inconvenient to the two Sin-Eaters, as access to graveyards was useful, but they’d be fine. They had a business on their shared main island, and Scar had his islands. There was nothing the humans could take from them at this point, and both of them knew it.

Cub laughed, grinning at his friend before stepping through the portal. Scar was a step behind him, unwilling to risk the portal closing before he could get through. His fear was not unfounded, as the portal snapped shut behind them, leaving the two in a dark, damp cave. The air was thick and oppressive, heavy with the scent of something rotten, and it sucked the good mood out of the Sin-Eaters in a matter of seconds.

Scar cleared his throat, hoping it would help. It didn’t. “Do you know what we’re looking for?” He asked.

He was all too aware, suddenly, that he was still holding Cub’s hand. He also knew that he didn’t want to let go, was terrified of the idea of letting go. What if he let go, and suddenly Cub was gone? What if he let go, and something that _wasn’t_ Cub took his place?

Cub looked at him, eyes glowing faintly blue in the darkness. “We’ll know when we see it.” He answered in a voice that wasn’t quite his own.

Scar wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to the casual way the Vex possessed his best friend sometimes. He wanted to know if Cub was okay with it, but didn’t know how to ask. There were a lot of questions that he didn’t know how to ask, that he wanted answers for too desperately to phrase them correctly.

So instead of asking like he desperately wanted to, he took a step forward. The earth squished beneath his feet, as a terrible squelching sound pierced the silence. The sooner they could leave this particular part of wherever they were ( _The Underworld, the Vex supplied in their echoing laughter, you’re in the land of the dead where you belong_ ), the better. They both walked slowly and carefully through the damp cavern, and Scar did his best to ignore the movement he kept catching out of the corner of his eye.

He knew the trip would be dangerous. It was fine. They were both conditionally immortal, they could both handle something wanting to fight them. He...didn’t want to fight here, didn’t know if he’d be any use here. He didn’t even want to be here, but knew he couldn’t back out now. More important than that, he couldn’t let Cub face this alone.

The first cavern seemed to be empty, at least. The pair found their way to a narrow staircase, stairs slick with blood. This cavern, at least, was lit. The torches burned dull grey, barely giving off any light, but it was better than nothing. As long as they didn’t touch the walls, didn’t alert the faces fused into the stone of their presence, they’d be fine.

Scar didn’t mind helping the dead. It was part of his job as a Sin-Eater, and on top of that it was genuinely nice to help those that got trapped on the wrong side. The things here...he wasn’t sure if they counted as dead, but he was pretty sure that there was no helping them. That their calls for help were a siren’s song, only meant to trap them here. It wasn’t something he was going to fall for.

The stairs were too slick not to have both his hands out to catch him when he inevitably slipped, but Scar still hated letting go of Cub’s hand. It felt safer when they were connected, when he was sure that Cub was still right there behind him. Talking to him wasn’t the same as physical contact, but it was better than nothing, so it was what he went with.

“I left Jellie with Grian, if you were worried.” He opened with. Both of them loved his cat, and he knew that Cub worried about what happened to her when they visited civilization.

Cub hummed, a soft, positive sound that showed he was listening without interrupting. Scar knew that it was probably obvious that he had more to say; he was always good at filling the silence. He was always talking, always asking questions, and maybe it was a relief that he was doing that again instead of keeping everything to himself.

As long as he managed to avoid the topics he didn’t want to bring up in literal hell, everything would be fine. And that meant not thinking about them, which would be challenging, but it was fine. He could handle a challenge.

“Yeah. I know he’s wanted to get some time with her pretty much since we found him? He never really said so directly but he stopped by my islands enough. I don’t know if he just likes cats or if he wants to figure out what, exactly, she is but he promised not to hurt her.” He rambled.

He trusted Grian. The mage was a bit of a troublemaker, but it was easy to say the same thing about both Scar and Cub. Besides, there was no reason that Grian would hurt Jellie. Even if she _wasn’t_ a normal cat. He didn’t know what she was, and it would be nice to finally have an answer to that particular question. Or maybe he didn’t want to know. Still, it would be good if someone did. Just in case she got herself hurt or something.

“Maybe he just wanted to introduce her to his two familiars.” Cub offered.

“Oh! I didn’t know mages could have more than one familiar? That’s what Bdubs seemed to think, at least. Do you think they’re friendly?” Scar asked. 

He was going to turn around and look at Cub, get some visual confirmation that it was still his friend behind him, but it was at that moment that he slipped. He managed to catch himself on the walls, doing his best to ignore the way some of the fingers of his left hand found their way into something that felt suspiciously like an eye socket, but the moment was gone. He took a deep, shuddering breath as his heart rate evened out; he couldn’t even see the bottom of the staircase, and didn’t know what would happen to him if he died here.

“I think they’re both cats.” Cub continued their conversation like it was nothing. He didn’t even sound worried; a fact Scar would’ve caught if his heart hadn't been in his throat. “And are you really surprised that Bdubs got a fact wrong?”

“...I suppose not, but I’m pretty sure familiars are one of his Things, you know? I guess he just might not’ve learned the trick yet, considering that he doesn’t even have one.” Scar said. He was more focused on the stairs now. He really didn’t want to risk falling.

“Or maybe Grian’s just weird. A lot of us aren’t quite right, so why not Grian?” Cub replied.

Scar nodded, unable to help the smile on his face. Sure, this place was wrong and he was filled with a sense of something _bad_ was on the way, but at least he and Cub were talking again. It didn’t feel quite right, sure, and they weren’t talking about anything important, but they were talking. That was progress. It had to be.

“I guess that’s fair. Joe’s even got _us_ beat on weirdness, and that’s gotta be a talent.” Scar said.

He and Cub had not exactly gone out of their way to meet other Sin-Eaters, but he knew enough to know he was different. That Geists didn’t share hosts, that two for one deals weren’t a thing when it came to lives. Whatever Cub had done, whatever deal he had struck, wasn’t something that was supposed to happen. And maybe that was why the Vex seemed so different to other Geists. They were more powerful, or at least more conniving. 

All of that weirdness was nothing compared to what Joe had managed, of course. Joe was, allegedly, a Sin-Eater. His magic felt like theirs (or...similar to theirs, theirs had the unique flavor of Vex under all the death), his powers worked under the same rules, but he didn’t have a Geist. They should’ve been able to feel its presence, most of the other hermits should’ve been able to see at least part of it, and yet nobody had. Joe himself offered no explanation, only claiming that he had conquered Death.

Cub hummed his agreement, and conversation stilled again. They were approaching the bottom of the stairs now; Scar could almost see the next room they’d be entering. He hoped that this one would be better lit than the last; squinting into the darkness was getting old fast. He didn’t know why the Vex weren’t providing their usual low-level night vision, and hadn’t realized how much he had relied on it until it was gone.

“Can you see, by the way?” Scar asked as he reached the last step. Maybe it was just him.

“Not really.” Cub confirmed. “Can _you_?”

“Huh? Uh, no. Never realized how much I used the night vision until they stopped providing it, I guess.” Scar said, distracted by the place he had just entered.

This cavern was much, much bigger than the last. It was big enough that he couldn’t see the top or the sides of it from where he stood. He could attribute some of that fact to the dull, washed out lighting, even if this place was the best lit one so far. Mostly, the place was just huge. The walls looked as though they were made from the same obsidian that the portal had been made from, down to the glowing white runes that were engraved in random ones. The floor and ceiling with both an endless void of black, impossible to distinguish features in. Most noticeable of all was the river that cut through the place; huge, impossibly deep, and containing translucent, white plasm instead of water.

There was no obvious way across, but Scar knew that he had to find a way. When the Vex did not provide their wings, he knew that he’d have to get creative with it. He had simply wanted to fly, but the magic just wasn’t there. He could take from the river that flowed before him, but that struck him as dangerous.

“It doesn’t have to be pretty.” He muttered to himself as he examined the ground. He could move the earth at his feet, form some kind of bridge. It would be more magic than he could spare, realistically, but it felt safer than swimming through the river. “It just has to work.”

Cub couldn’t do it. This was one area that Scar was better than Cub at something; his Grave Dirt key let him reshape the ground with relative ease. Cub could bolster his magic, at the very least. If they shared, he wouldn’t be too tired to go on.

He pressed his hands to the ground, half expecting Cub to stop him. He had been pushing himself and Cub knew it, so he was expecting a hand on his shoulder and a quiet reminder that they could figure something else out. Nothing came, and that was close enough to approval for Scar. Magic, bright and blue and searingly painful, flowed from him and into the ground. It obeyed his command without the need for him to speak, rising up to form a crude bridge over the river.

“You’ll have to go fast.” He gasped, short of breath. “I can’t hold it for long.”

When was the last time he was this out of life-sustaining magic? Cub had always shared before, always made sure they were both alright. He didn’t understand why the other Sin-Eater wasn’t now. Had he done something wrong?

Cub didn’t move. He didn’t hurry to Scar’s side when Scar found that he couldn’t stand, he didn’t rush across the bridge while it still stood. Already it was shaking, crumbling. It wouldn’t last long, not without the power Scar simply couldn’t provide. It was that inaction that finally caught Scar’s attention, alerted him to the fact that something was wrong.

He looked at the thing pretending to be his friend. It would’ve passed as Cub to anyone who didn’t know him that well, if Scar was being honest. The only visual clue was that his scars and eyes were glowing the standard white instead of Vex blue. He wanted to scramble away from the thing, to get as far away as possible and _find Cub_ , but he lacked the energy to even stand up.

“What did you do with Cub?” He asked as he inched closer to the river. 

He didn’t _want_ to take plasm from the source, but he was useless without magic. He would just have to be careful not to fall in, not to be whisked away. Plasm was made by the dead, after all. And the Vex wouldn’t save him from a hopeless situation. If he fell in, it’d be the end of him.

The thing that wasn’t Cub turned to look at him, confusion written on its face. “What are you talking about, Scar? I am Cub.” He replied, a perfect mockery of concern.

“You’re not!” Scar shouted. 

He pulled the last of his remaining magic to him, despite the laughing protest of the Vex. There was plasm _right there_ . He’d be fine. And if worse came to worst and he died again, the Vex could bring him back. Fighting a monster wasn’t the hopeless death loop that falling into the river would be, or at least he hoped so. He didn’t know if they _would_ bring him back, or if that would void the agreement Cub had brokered for them, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t let something walk around pretending to be Cub!

He pulled the Rage to him, allowing his feelings to leak into the magic. It amplified the magic, made it infinitely more dangerous and hard to hold on to. If he wasn’t careful, it would all fly back into his face. He didn’t have the energy for careful. He pushed the magic outward, toward the thing wearing Cub’s face, and let it crush him with the passion of a thousand Scars.

It was only down for a moment; only down for long enough for Scar to think that he had done enough. That he had defeated the thing, and his friend could come back from wherever he had gone. And then it stood up, Cub’s features melting off of it as it approached. Underneath the melted features was nothing but a black void and a rictus grin.

It spat dirt in Scar’s face before lifting him up like he weighed nothing. “Clever trick,” it said, grin never leaving the remains of its face, “filling my lungs with grave dirt. It’d work better if I needed to breathe.”

If he had been able to breathe properly, Scar would’ve shot back some kind of retort. Even if it was just ‘I’ll keep it in mind for next time’, it would’ve been better than the choked sputter he managed. He didn’t have the magic to force the thing away, and the Vex had nothing left to give him. Taking more would kill him at this point, and that seemed awfully counterproductive to his desire to get out of the situation alive.

He kicked his legs blindly at the creature that was a horrifying facsimile of his best friend, hoping at least one would connect. That, against all odds, one would hurt enough that the thing let him go. He didn’t want to die. Not here, not like this. Not alone in the dark, where nobody would even know what happened to him.

The world was growing fuzzy and dim, and all he could think about was how he wished that he had talked to Cub. That he had gotten everything off his chest so they could be friends again. He wanted to die knowing that Cub didn’t regret saving him, and didn’t even have that luxury. Instead, it was something wearing his friend’s face that would kill him.

There was a flash of something red, and he was on the ground. He took a deep, coughing breath and waited for the dark spots to clear from his vision. Something had saved him? Something that had left drops of red on the stone he was coughing into. Blood? Where had something found blood here?

His heart leapt to his throat. _Cub_! Cub was full of blood! He took another breath and forced himself to sit up. He’d find the strength to fight somewhere, the strength to do something about whatever had hurt Cub. It was the least he could do. More spots danced in his vision, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t let it matter.

He stood, swaying on his feet, and something was at his side in an instant. “Whoa, easy there Scar.” Two voices from the same mouth; one was Cub’s, the other was the Vex. Scar forced his eyes to focus, and it was Cub that was standing next to him.

It was Cub, covered in blood. It was Cub with glowing blue eyes, a too wide grin, and wings flared from his back; a phantasmal sword in one hand. Scar could see magic racing just under his skin, and recognized the power. Cub didn’t like using it for fighting, didn’t like giving into the Vex’s call for bloodshed and violence, and here he was. Fighting the thing that had tried to kill Scar.

“‘M fine.” He insisted, voice slurred.

“You will be.” Cub agreed as he grabbed his friend’s hand. 

There was a pulse of magic that Scar could see run through Cub’s veins and through his hand. The warmth traveled up his arm and into his bloodstream, and suddenly everything was easier. Breathing didn’t take as much effort, standing was easier. Cub’s magic worked its way through his system, replacing everything he had given up in his fight to stay alive.

If Scar had been paying less attention, he wouldn’t have caught the subtle sag of Cub’s shoulders. He wouldn’t have noticed the slight dull to the shine of magic through him. Cub was _exhausted_. They needed to leave. They could come back some other time for whatever it was the Vex had wanted them to find. Neither of them could keep going like this, not as tired as they were.

“What a touching reunion.” The thing said sarcastically as it pushed it’s broken body up off the ground again. 

It took a step toward Cub, and Scar had enough. Cub was exhausted and covered in blood, and Scar was _done_. The Rage hadn’t worked before, hadn’t been enough, but this anger was deeper. He didn’t know what would happen if he reached out with this, didn’t know what the power would do until it was already rushing away from him and toward the monster. The earth cracked open underneath it, and the creature had a moment to look confused before it was falling and the earth moved back into its proper place.

“What was _that?_ ” Cub exclaimed as he looked at Scar. His tone was somewhere between horrified and amazed, and the words were accompanied by another warm pulse of shared magic. 

“The...Pit.” Scar said slowly, unable to take his eyes off the place the monster had been. “That manifestation is called the pit and I didn’t...I mean I’ve never done anything like that before. It’s. New. From this place.”

Cub hummed a noise of understanding. For just a moment he leaned against Scar, before lurching away. He even broke the death grip he had on his best friend’s hand, and was muttering out apologies as he shook the sleeves of his once white lab coat.

“How did you end up so covered in blood, anyways? You’re okay, right?” Scar asked. He hadn’t cared about the mess. It was better that Cub was at his side; they were both better together.

“Oh!” Cub replied, laughing quietly. “Yes. I’m fine. It’ll sound silly, but I ended up at a river of blood. With a fake Scar that was _obviously_ not the real you because we were talking about Disney and it wasn’t insisting that Frozen was my favorite movie. But I didn’t want to risk hurting it in case it was somehow connected to you.”

Scar hadn’t even thought of that. He didn’t know if he would’ve been able to forgive himself, if his impulsive attack had hurt Cub. Or worse. He nodded to show that he was still listening, grateful that Cub didn’t seem to notice his internal panic.

“I didn’t really have a plan for what I was going to do about the thing, or even how to get across the river. I could fly, but I wasn’t sure about leaving not-you alone. But I also didn’t want to carry it, so I was thinking about how we could possibly cross that river when I got the sense that you were hurt. Dying, really.” His voice had grown soft, his words more hesitant. “Along with the vaguest sensation of what direction you were in. I...didn’t even think about it. Just jumped into that river and started swimming toward you. Threw on the Passion Caul as I was swimming to use as much of the Vex’s power as they were willing to share. Ended up scaring the hell out of a ghost on the other side of the river when I flew out of it.”

“Why?” The question was out of Scar’s mouth before he could think about it. 

It didn’t make sense to him why Cub would risk his own life for Scar. Cub had already given so much. More than Scar deserved, he was sure. And yet, there Cub was. Always willing to give more, always willing to risk more, and Scar didn’t understand at all.

“Why what?” Cub asked, his tone somewhere between hurt and confused.

Scar didn’t believe for a second that Cub didn’t understand what he was asking. Cub wasn’t stupid. He just wanted Scar to admit it, probably. So they’d actually talk about it, instead of leaving it to fester with everything else. Cub was smarter than him, and probably knew exactly how bad of an idea that was.

“Why do you keep...keep giving up everything for me? Why are you so willing to throw everything away to help me?” Scar asked in a small voice.

He hadn’t wanted to talk about this. Not now, not ever. It was something that he was just going to wonder for the rest of his life, because he didn’t think he’d understand the answer. He wasn’t anything special, and Cub was _amazing_. 

“This...isn’t really about this time, is it?” Cub replied in a soft, cautious voice.

The Vex features melted away from him, and it was just Cub again. He looked vulnerable and scared, as if he didn’t want to have this conversation either. Scar debated dropping it as they walked slowly and carefully over the crumbling bridge he had made before. The Vex wanted them to keep moving, so they did. The Vex wanted them to continue going forward, so they obeyed.

“Not just this time.” Scar agreed. “I just...don’t understand, Cub. This can’t be what you wanted, to always put up with my failures. To feel it every time I get hurt or run myself into the ground for some project. You didn’t sign up to take care of me, it’s not your job, and it’s not fair that you get stuck with the consequences of my actions.”

Cub let out a small, relieved laugh. “And here I was, thinking that you were upset with me for saving you in the first place.” He admitted softly.

“...What?” Scar asked. He actually stopped in his tracks, barely across the bridge, to look at Cub in surprise. 

Cub shrugged. “You didn’t agree to this.” He said as if it explained everything. “I signed the contract for both of us, and I wouldn’t blame you if you had been upset about it. I just...couldn’t live with the other option.”

“You almost talk like you’re in love with me or something, Cub.” Scar joked. 

He wasn’t sure what else to say. He didn’t even realize that Cub worried about that kind of thing, didn’t realize that Cub had worried so much about bringing him back to life. He had simply worried that he was an inconvenience.

Cub blinked, considering Scar’s joke far too seriously for something that had been meant as a silly comment. “Yeah, I probably am.” He said after a long moment. He shrugged like he was forcing himself to be casual about it. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t change anything.”

Scar bit back his immediate response of ‘what if I want it to’. He didn’t want to say anything he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he meant, and, frankly, there were much better places to talk about his feelings. A place where Cub wasn’t covered in blood would be a good start, but they had to finish what they were doing here.

It didn’t stop him from putting his face in his hands to cover just how embarrassed and flustered the casual confession made him. Cub _loved_ him. Cub didn’t think of him as a burden, didn’t regret the choice to bring him back to life. Cub hadn’t wanted to live in a world without him. It was too much.

“...can we talk about this once we get out of here? This isn’t exactly the most romantic spot for a confession.” He settled on saying.

He tried to ignore the brittleness of Cub’s smile. “Of course.” His best friend replied. “Whatever you want, Scar. I realize that this,” he gestured toward himself, sending drops of mostly congealed blood flying as he did so, “isn’t great. Once we’ve got the Key, we can go.”

“You found out what we’re after, then?” Scar asked, happy to have something else to talk about.

“The advantage of fusing with the Vex is that they can’t keep secrets from me anymore. It’s called the Stygian Key, apparently, and it’s rare. Don’t know if it’ll actually be _useful_ , but the Vex get what they want.” Cub explained.

Scar was pretty sure that Cub was also happy for the subject change. They had a mission to focus on, which meant that they could both put off talking about their feelings for a little while longer. The downside was that they were both still exhausted, but it couldn’t be that much longer now. Surely, they were almost there.

“Oh, well. If it’s rare, I’m sure it’s worth braving the depths of hell for. I’m sure there’s no Key that we could get on the surface that would be more useful.” Scar said with a roll of his eyes.

Cub snickered. “Absolutely. If you’re not going after the most difficult power up first what’s the point of it?” He agreed.

The two wandered in the dark for over an hour, doing fetch quests for ghosts and generally making jokes with one another. It was exhausting work, and Scar couldn’t wait to go home by the time they crossed the third river. He wasn’t sure what ran through that one; just that the waters were dark and that he didn’t want to swim through them. There was a ghost that was kind enough to create a bridge for the two after a convoluted fetch quest that only took a half hour, which was great news for their dwindling magic supply but not nearly as good of news for Scar’s patience.

The next room the duo entered looked more like a long-abandoned library than anything else. The stench of mildew hung heavy in the air as the pair walked into the dimly lit room. Cub was quick to occupy himself with attempting to read the waterlogged spines of the books while Scar began looking for the next ghost or monster they’d have to deal with.

He was surprised to find that the monster that lurked in the library didn’t look that scary. They were human sized with blue-grey skin and black robes with gold trim, and while they watched Scar with sharp, angry eyes, they made no move to attack him. Scar was smart enough to back away as soon as he caught sight of the thing, hurrying back to where Cub was still picking through the books for something useful.

“Cub!” He whispered just loud enough to get the other man’s attention. “There’s something in here with us!”

“Is it friendly?” Cub asked, voice dropping to the same whisper.

“It didn’t attack me outright?” Scar replied with a shrug. “Did you find anything useful?”

“No. Every useful title’s too destroyed to read, and every one that’s not is nonsense. It was worth the look, though.” He replied. “That must mean whatever you found is the ticket to moving forward.”

As if talking about the creature summoned it, it appeared next to the two of them. It stared at the two of them for a long moment before making a soft ‘hrm’ noise. Scar didn’t know what it wanted, or why it radiated with so much magical power that he could all but see white swirls of the stuff coming off of its hands, but it wasn’t attacking them _or_ demanding that they go spend an hour chasing down something stupid, so he already liked it more than the last three ghosts they had dealt with.

Cub responded to the noise it made, eyes lighting up blue as the Vex spoke through him once again. Scar tried not to let it get to him, even as the Vex laughed in his head. Cub was obviously talking to the thing, but Scar couldn’t understand a word of it. It all just sounded like _noise_ and he could only hope that Cub was making progress.

He must’ve said something right, because it was after only a few short minutes that the thing pulled glowing white key from somewhere under their robe. They channeled their magic into splitting the key in two and handed out both copies. As soon as Scar had a hold of his (as Cub had gotten his key first), the thing crumbled into dust.

“What...was that thing, Cub? Why did it talk to you?” Scar asked as the Key absorbed into his skin. He could feel the shift in his head as new magic powers literally unlocked, and tried not to recoil at the feeling.

“It called itself an Evoker. Apparently it’s a ‘friend of the Vex’, whatever that means. I didn’t know geists could have friends.” Cub said with a shrug. He didn’t seem nearly as disturbed by their new powers, so Scar didn’t want to complain about it. “What do you say we go home?”

“I’ll settle for anywhere that isn’t here at this point.” Scar agreed. “We don’t have to walk all the way back, do we?”

Cub shook his head. “We should be able to make and open a gate ourselves. I don’t know _where_ we’ll end up, as it won’t have a fixed location like the thing we used to get in, but it’ll be somewhere among the living at least.” He said, “I’ll do the actual portal opening, because I’ve got enough magic for it, and you can buy me some new clothes in whatever town we end up in.”

Scar figured that was fair, considering neither of them would be able to explain why he was covered in dried blood. He didn’t think they’d be able to pass it off as just dirt or mud, either. It’d be better if Scar was the one dealing with people, at least until Cub had a shower. He nodded his agreement, and Cub smiled. 

Cub walked between two bookshelves and pressed his hands against each one. Magic pulsed from his fingertips, and he took a step back as a bright blue portal opened where he was standing. He rubbed his hands together, flaking off as much of the dried blood as possible, before grabbing Scar’s hand and walking through the portal.

Scar had only been that grateful for a breath of fresh air once before. It was late at night, and his phone claimed that they had been gone for two days. It was also near dead and he didn’t have the magic to charge it, or a charger to do things the more conventional way. He used the last of his battery life to reply to Doc’s concerned ‘hey are you guys alright’ text, and hoped that Cub would know where they could find a hotel to stay in.

They had come out of the Underworld in a graveyard, just like how they entered it. It was just a completely different graveyard. This one was obviously still in use, with the grass recently cut and flowers resting on some of the graves. There weren’t even many spirits lingering in the graveyard, a sight that Scar was infinitely grateful for. If he had been given one more fetch quest he was pretty sure he would’ve screamed. All he wanted was a nap.

“Do you know where we are?” He asked Cub. He tried, and failed, not to let his exhaustion show. The jaw-popping yawn had probably given him away.

To his surprise, Cub nodded. “We’re in the same town we started in, just miles away from that Graveyard.” He explained between his own yawn. “There’s a motel like a mile up the road. You should rest, we can figure out the rest later.”

“Or, I can get us checked into a room and then go get you something to change into while you shower. Like we agreed.” Scar countered. He grabbed Cub’s hand, ignoring the way the action made his cheeks heat up this time, and pulled him toward the graveyard’s gate. “And _then_ we can sleep.”

Cub didn’t argue, and the two walked to the motel in exhausted silence. The only good news about it being late at night was that there weren’t many people on the streets to notice the state they were in. The few that _were_ out (including vampires, that were easy to pick out if someone knew how to sense death) avoided the two Sin-Eaters like the plague. Scar got a room without an issue and handed the key off to Cub, who had kindly called him an uber. Cub was quick to disappear into the room before the driver showed up, and the only reason Scar waited outside was to give Cub some well-deserved privacy. 

It took him maybe an hour to get to a store, get new clothes and pajamas for both of them and something to eat, and get back to the motel. He knocked on the door to their room and was greeted by the sight of Cub in nothing but a complimentary robe, and that was the moment he was _sure_ that yes, he was attracted to Cub. He pushed the bag with Cub’s clothes into the other man’s face, staring at the ground so Cub couldn’t see how red he was sure his face was, and didn’t look up again until he heard the door to the bathroom shut.

He sat on the edge of the bed and dug one of the prepackaged sandwiches out from the bag. He hadn’t realized he was starving until he had gotten to the store and saw food, and now that he had a chance to eat he was taking it. He hardly tasted the sandwich with how fast he ate it, and was halfway through a second one by the time Cub came back from the bathroom. He handed the food bag to Cub, sure that his friend was as hungry as he was, and finished his sandwich. Once that was done, he made his way into the bathroom for a shower of his own.

It was only after all of that was taken care of and he walked back out of the bathroom that he realized what, exactly, was wrong with their motel room. In his exhaustion, he had managed to get a room with just one bed. One bed that Cub was perched nervously on, pretending to watch whatever passed for late night television.

“I can sleep on the floor, if you want.” Cub offered as soon as Scar looked at him. “Or go get another room. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Let me get this straight. You’ll walk through literal hell with me, holding my hand most of the way, but you think that sharing a bed is where I’m going to draw the line?” Scar asked with a laugh. He moved the covers on the open side of the bed and crawled under them.

“I want you to be comfortable, Scar. So if that’s where you want to draw a line, that’s perfectly fine with me. I know you didn’t want to talk about...this yet, so it’s tomorrow’s problem. Or whenever, there’s no pressure.” Cub said as he shut off the TV. He was blushing, which Scar realized he found adorable, and wasn’t quite willing to look Scar in the eye as he rambled nervously. 

“Please just get into bed, Cub. I’m more uncomfortable with how awkward you’re making this. We’ll talk in the morning, I promise, but I can’t stay up anymore.” Scar responded.

Cub hesitated for a moment, taking his time as he turned off the lights, before settling into bed. Scar whispered a goodnight, barely able to stop himself from adding an ‘I love you’, and drifted off to sleep.

The sleep was deep and dreamless, and he didn’t wake again until late in the afternoon. Cub was already awake and messing with his phone, though he put it down when Scar moved. He smiled and wished him a good morning despite the late hour, and Scar wondered how he had never figured out that he was in love with his best friend.

Scar dragged himself to the bathroom before saying anything, as taking care of himself _before_ the dramatic talk seemed like a good idea. He was pleased to note that he had a small magic reserve again; it would take him some time to build it up to where it was supposed to be, but at least he wasn’t hurting himself by using magic anymore. He was stalling and he knew it. 

He could do this. Everything would be fine. He just had to go out there and tell Cub that he loved him. And kiss him. That part was important. Everything else could be worked out some other time. He took a deep breath, working up all the courage he had, and returned to the room.

He sat next to Cub on the bed and ran a hand nervously through his own hair. “So…” He said, all of the courage he had gathered gone in an instant. “So did you want to talk here, or back at Con Corp, or…?” He trailed off.

Cub stared down at the ground, as if he wasn’t brave enough for this particular conversation either. “Wherever you’re most comfortable, Scar. I just want you to be happy.” He said, sounding resigned.

“You don’t need to sound so sad, Cub.” Scar replied in a soft voice. “I had never really thought about it, you know?”

Cub laughed at that, and Scar’s heart soared when he smiled. How had he not realized before? How was he so oblivious?

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t realize it until you said something. Sure, I wanted to be around you all the time and you meant the world to me and I wanted you to be happy more than I wanted anything else, but I guess I was just telling myself that that’s what being friends with Scar is like. It didn’t occur to me that most people aren’t willing to die for their best friend, I guess.” Cub said. He was blushing bright red at this point, and it was so unlike the confident Cub that Scar was used to. “That being said, I understand if you don’t feel the same way. It’s okay. We’re best friends no matter what.”

“We’ve _gotta_ stop doing that, Cub. We can’t just assume we understand how the other one feels, because I’ve spent the past half a year convinced that you regretted bringing me back to life and you thought that I was mad that you brought me back. So new rule. Unless one of us _says_ that we’re upset or disagree with the other, we’re not allowed to assume it.” Scar said. 

He didn’t want to go back to feeling like he was drifting away from Cub, especially not that he was aware of his feelings. “Because. I mean, I.” He took a deep breath, barely resisting the urge to hide his face in his hands. He was not good at this. “What I’m trying to say is that I. I love you. And want to be your boyfriend, if you’re open to the idea.”

Scar took a moment to watch the way Cub’s whole face lit up at his words before leaning in to kiss him.


End file.
